Recognizing Excellence in the Classroom!

Five Illinois teachers will be recognized on October 25th for their outstanding work in teaching economics to our youth. Winners of the Council’s 3M Economic Educator Awards will be highlighted at the annual Economic Education Day Awards Luncheon at the Union League Club of Chicago.

Kathy Bellott, a business teacher at Peoria (Central) High School, is one of two teachers who will receive the Economic Educator Excellence Award for her long-term commitment to excellence in teaching economics. A self-described life-long student, Kathy has infused her classes with economics materials and ideas she has gained from ICEE programs. Among the enhancements she has brought to PHS are the Illinois Global Economics & Finance High Schools (IGEF) program; the International Economic Summit; and experiences from her participation in a study tour to Russia through the National Council on Economic Education’s EconomicsInternational program.

Jim Artese is another life-long teacher, having just completed 40 years of teaching at Bogan High School in Chicago, where he served as Chair of the social studies department, economics teacher, varsity basketball coach, and driver’s education instructor. In 1983, when Jim was asked to teach an economics course, he turned to the Illinois Council on Economic Education for help. Since then, he has involved his students in The Stock Market Game™ ; the Illinois Global Economics & Finance High School; the International Economic Summit; and the Economics Challenge programs.

Three other teachers will be honored for their innovative approaches to teaching economics. Winners of the 3M Innovative Economic Educator award this year are:
• Kunda Sagar, Medgar Evers Elementary School in Ford Heights (project implemented at Tidye A. Phillips Elementary School); First Place
• Margaret “Peg” Seaman, Victor J. Andrew High School, Tinley Park; Second Place
• Matt King, Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, Chicago; Third Place

Kunda’s project, “Economics Through the Eyes of Lincoln,” taught basic economic concepts through history and geography lessons related to the study of Illinois. In preparing for the class trip to Springfield and Lincoln’s home, students learned about scarcity, opportunity cost, productive resources, and other economics concepts as they learned about Lincoln’s life.

Peg ‘s project, “Economics and Food: The Global Connection,” brought together students from her school and from Hamburg, Germany to study production and trade in the food industry. The program included research on the food industry, and hands-on observations of food, diet and international markets through reciprocal study tours in each country.

Matt King’s “Railroad Robber Barons – Only One Will Remain Standing” is a set of lessons within a larger unit that seeks to introduce how the concepts of competition, monopoly, and government intervention in market systems played a role in the U.S. gilded age during the 19th century. After providing a background for students on the changes occurring in the U.S. with the rise of industrialism, rural to urban migration, mass immigration into the U.S., and Laissez-faire capitalism, the main lesson features competing groups of students racing to gain a monopoly in the railroad industry at the turn of the 20th century. The students are asked to use strategies from the masters, such as Carnegie and Rockefeller, along with cost-benefit analysis of major rail routes to determine the best and quickest way to gain control of the industry.

We congratulate all of these teachers for their outstanding work!